Benedicta O'Keeffe affectionately known as "Ben", works and lives in Glendara, Inishowen a peninsula in County Donegal. We quickly establish that she had a sister Faye murdered by an individual known as Luke Kirby. He has served a prison sentence for manslaughter and is now released. On a business trip to Dublin Ben encounters, on a chance meeting, Kirby and immediately feels intimidated and frightened. Back in Glendara the body of a local barmaid, Carole, is discovered by Ben and her boyfriend Molloy, a sergeant in the local Garda Siochana, on an early morning xmas walk. In a separate incident the local hostelry "The Oak" is destroyed in a fire and arson is suspected......

I do have a few problems with the telling of this story: The synopsis for the book on all the usual forums ie Amazon, goodreads etc states that Ben was chilled to the bone when she encountered Kirby in Dublin by something that he whispered as she walks away? what could this startling revelation be? Did he threaten to kill her? In fact all he said was..."Looking good, babe" Again the book abstract refers to all kinds of strange and sinister happenings in Glendara boldly declaring that someone is out for revenge with devastating consequences! Yes the pub is destroyed and a body is discovered and I was set for a wave of murder and serial killing in this quiet Irish backwater. However apart from these two brief incidents the majority of the book descends into Agatha Christie territory where all the residents are introduced and displayed as possible suspects. Remember Luke Kirby? if you thought this story was about him and some big revenge plot...forget it...he is not mentioned again until 70% of the story is told. As we analysed the lives and loves of the residents of Glendara I became totally confused as to who they were and what actually was happening? Of course Kirby was involved and as I trolled through endless encounters and descriptions, I became thoroughly dismayed and disillusioned with the direction the book was going (or indeed if it had a direction)....You will not be surprised as to the culprit but the secret (so the author would have me believe) is discovering his accomplish and their reasons. If you enjoy this type of lumbering storyline then The Well of Ice is perfect for you, to me the whole experience was akin to watching paint dry and apart from the beautiful west Donegal setting I found little of merit. I received a gratis copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.